Monthly Archives: October 2011

We (finally) complete a successful interview with Ethan Seltzer of Pedal Power, the advocacy organization that educates on energy use while keeping it positive and lighthearted. We also cover some news and describe our Halloween party from the night previous.

“av3ry” comments on e48: “Love the podcast! Back in the day, I used to be on LiveJournal a lot, and I followed Jeff’s Photography over there. I haven’t really used LJ much over the past few years, so I lost track. Then the whole thing with MAX FAQs happened, and I was re-introduced to him. His transit comments are hilarious and spot-on, and his blogs are great as well. He’s definitely one of my favorites on twitter!”

Carl from Animaheim: “The scene: On my bike commute in heavy traffic, a Chevy astro van; mom driving, a teenage kid riding shot gun yells some unintelligible crap. (sounded negative) Unlike my usual response to that kind of situation, I was like “best day ever!” trying my best not to be pissed. Although I was anyway. I could not help myself, after a momentary pause I yelled “Ass Hole” after they passed of course. But as luck would have it, an old man (windows rolled down) took the intentional brunt. I felt like a Dick, but only for a second… GOOD TIMES! Need to ask Dr. Jeff what he recommends. So head phones will be in full time from now on when I am in the street. A great tune for urban commuting is ” Tomahawk” by Adam K and BT. On iTunes.”

We speak with Dr. Jeff Guardalabene, better known to his Twitter followers as @doctor_jeff, about his observations on the Portland Metro area public transit scene and his cross-region daily commute.

We discuss: a brief history of dr. jeff riding TriMet, the acclaimed twitter feed, TriMet diaries writing: I Ride, totalling the car: what mobility will look like from here on out, LifeHacker features Dr. Jeff!

Mailbag
Patrick from Davis CA donates (thank you!) and sponsors a month of drinking!
says of the show: “it’s informative, fun & quirky. A bit like Monty Python with a purpose.”
“I work at UCD & live in Winters about 17 miles away. I mostly ride the Yolobus 220 into work with my bike then pedal home.” Also recommendsPepperPedlers as a guest.

Sally from ILoveTheBus.com says of E44: “I love Street Books, it is such a great way to serve the community. We all love a good story, right? Books bring people together and build community.”

Peggy says of E47: “Great interview – told the fuller story of Zenger Farm, which is an AMAZING organization doing so much good work in the community! Nice to see it getting more than the 3-minute soundbite typical news coverage.”

Mailbag
Eric writes in: “…I like the longer sprocket format. And I was listening to your semi-epic fail in announcing this last episode [E45] and thought you may want to trysadtrombone.com as a great sound effect.”

Jarrod from Australia: likes the podcast, and recently got back from an Indian Himalayas cycling adventure that he desribes on his website,cyclinginthinair.com

Listener Dave writes in: “They make the time I spend walking our dog go very fast and when our dog wants to stop and smell or pee, I just don’t mind.” wants to know “how did we meet?” Also is curious about a list of podcasts we enjoy. (see our website!)

Blayne from BC is working on his food podcast, has trouble keeping kids out of the room though.

We invited Dave Feucht of Portlandize.com to share his thoughts on Portland, its bicycle culture, and some of the finer points of discussing your passion for it over a refreshing Hopworks Urban Brewery Lager. We also had our friend Tyson Butler into the studio to share his experience at the Occupy Portland event this previous week.

Dave adds info about his bike: “So, it’s a 3-speed internally geared hub, and then you can see the full chain case. It also has front and rear hub brakes – they’re internal to the hub, so they’re basically un-effected by the weather (it’s nice not having to re-learn how to brake when it’s wet) 🙂 Dynamo-powered lighting is great as well, as you never have to worry about batteries, forgetting to turn your lights off, or putting them on and taking them off your bike every time you use it.

“I’ve loaded about 50lbs of stuff on the front rack, and in the range of 100lbs on the rear, so it’ll carry quite a bit.

“While the full chain case won’t work with derailleurs, a chain guard that just covers the top of the chain can, and I think there are some companies that make kind of after-market ones that you can add to bicycles that didn’t have them originally, I feel like maybe SKS made one (yes, this one I think). That at least solves the problem of getting your pants dirty :)”

We engage in a lively discussion of bicycles and transit in everyday life with Lillian Karabaic, producer of the Portland Afoot Podcast and, as her card states, “bicycle advocate, photographer, and transportation wonk.”